Early yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down the VA’s policy of denying disability benefits to Vietnam-era blue-water Navy veterans for exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides on a presumptive basis. In a case called Procopio v. Wilkie the court decided that veterans who served within the “territorial waters” of Vietnam are now

On December 21, 2018, Congress failed to pass appropriation bills for some federal programs, resulting in a partial government shut down. While some government operations will be affected, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Robert Wilkie, released the following statement: “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Congress, VA is fully funded for

When filing a claim for post traumatic stress disorder, the federal code provides different rules for combat veterans than it does for other veterans. In particular, veterans who have received combat medals are not required to corroborate their stressors. The fact that the medal was awarded is considered presumptive evidence of exposure to a stressful

A 2005, VA report indicates that across National Guard and reserve components the estimated prevalence of military sexual trauma (MST) of any type among females is 60% and among males is 27%. Military sexual trauma includes sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. The report also states the estimated prevalence for rape among females is 11%